Falling Apart
by Pertastor
Summary: So it's the zombie apocalypse. Mathias needs to find his friends to ensure their safety but most of all, he has to find his love, Lars. He must overcome different difficulties to do this but will it work out for him in the end? Will he find his friends and Lars safe or will his world fall apart? Rated M for violence. Human names used.
1. Chapter 1

The sky burned red, ashes floating through the thick air. I struggled to breath, having to fight my way along the street. I crept slowly along, staying as silent as my body allowed. Of course, that was difficult for me, being the loud-mouthed Dane that I am. Still, I kept on. I had to find them. Any of them. I had to know that they were okay.

It had been weeks. I was cold, tired and hungry. But most of all, I was alone. I had lost contact with my friends, Tino, Berwald, Lukas, and also Emil. The thing that hurt me most was that I hadn't heard from my most loved, Lars. I had to admit it, I was scared. I was scared for myself, but mostly for the ones I cared for. I wished so badly to be with Lars, his arms wrapped around me, protecting me, keeping me safe, keeping me warm. I missed him.

I stopped in my tracks. A few tears trailed down my blood-splattered cheeks. My body was shaking, but I stood strong. I had to find them. No matter what, I had to keep going. I looked towards the sky, my bright blue eyes rimmed red, straining to see past the ash clouds that hung in the air. The sun was setting. I had to find somewhere to set up, and fast. It was when it was dark that they came out. Of course you had the few that would traipse around during daylight, but the mass would lie in wait, wait for darkness to fall for the few unfortunate who ventured out. My pace quickened, avoiding being noticed by any of the infected that were scattered in the otherwise empty street.

Well, when I say infected, I mean zombies. It was a disease, but it was easier to say zombies. They looked like it, so why not? They were infected with a mutant disease that fucks with their brain. That's my way of explaining it. It made them go bat-shit crazy, eating people, and left in a state between life and death. I felt sorry for them really, wandering around aimlessly, their mind all but gone. I guess that's part of the reason I found it easy to kill them. It was the only way to put them out of their misery, and keep me alive.

I cautiously made my way inside a pretty beaten club. The windows were smashed, bottles lay on the floor, the alcohol thrown over the walls and covering the floor. I moved slowly through the worn place. I scanned around, ensuring that I was alone. I came to a large, sturdy door, obviously where they used to store the booze. I looked the door from top to bottom, knowing immediately how to open it. I followed my instinct, the door softly clicking open within seconds. I smirked to myself, readying my bloody axe, slowly pushing the door open. I searched inside. It was empty and it was difficult to get in unless you knew how, like I had. The infected had no chance of getting in here.

I locked up the door, double checking that the room was secure. I set down my backpack. I pulled a small blanket from it, pulling my hood over my head. I rested my head against my bulking bag, axe gripped firmly in my hand and pulled the blankets to cover as much of me as I could. I closed my eyes, drifting into a troubled sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**Sorry for the really late update! I actually forgot all about this story sorry but I hope this was okay. I'll try my best to update it more often from now on! I hope you enjoy it :3c**

I wandered the streets, not being as light-footed as I was yesterday. The streets were empty and the air wasn't as thick and toxic. The day seemed a little more normal. The sun was shining and the air was clearer, the fires dying, the streets empty of infected. I smiled to myself, believing that, for once, I would have a reasonably peaceful day, not constantly having to kill advancing infected. That was, until I heard a scream.

Of course, you would be scared if you heard a scream, but I was terrified. It was a young girl's scream. For some reason that scared me more than the screeches that the infected let out.

Instinct took over as I sprinted towards her voice, wielding my axe, ready to kill. I rounded the corner and was greeted by three infected, trapping a young girl against a dead end. I gritted my teeth and lunged toward them. I swung the blade, decapitating one infected. I quickly turned and caught the arm of another infected that was about to claw me. One scratch on me and I'm dead. Just before it could bite me I bashed it's face with the end of my axe, effectively killing it.

I faced the last infected, whose attention was still fixed on the girl. It drooled at the sight of her, blood gushing down from it's empty eye socket. It was half rotted away and if it weren't for the remainder of it's clothes, it would have been impossible to tell that it was once a young woman.

"I hate hitting women," I sighed before running towards the last remaining enemy in my way. I quickly finished her off before lowering my axe. I glanced over at the young girl who was staring at me with her wide blue eyes, tears streaming down her was trembling, her long, blonde hair in tangles and her dress tattered and filthy. She looked about 11 years old. I frowned a little. A girl her age shouldn't have to witness something like this.

I crouched down a little distance away from her, resting my axe down next to me. "I'm not going to hurt you," I began, "I'm a friend."  
She seemed to relax a little but not entirely. I stretched my hand out towards her, smiling softly. "It's okay."

She gulped, considering whether she should take my hand or not. In the end she crawled forward and took hold of me. I noticed she was still shaking so I settled down onto the ground and pulled her into my chest, stroking her hair. She burst into tears again, bawling into my jumper. I rocked her softly back and forth in attempt to comfort her. Eventually she calmed down, hiccuping as her sobbing came to a stop. I looked out on the skyline. The sun was setting again so I had to find somewhere for us.

"We have to move," I told her, my eyes still fixed on the sky. She tugged at my jumper, gaining my attention. "What is it?"  
"You're going to keep me safe right?" she asked innocently.

"Of course," I promised, "they didn't cut you at all, did they?" I nodded over to the now dead infected laying a few feet from us. She shook her head, still clinging to me. She still looked terrified, and rightfully so being at the age she is. I smiled at her again, lifting her with ease. I shifted her so that I could hold her with one arm while I retrieved my axe from the ground. I quickened my pace as I walked along, scanning for somewhere to sleep for the night. We found a small house that was still intact compared to the rest of the city.

The windows were barricaded and the door was still on it's hinges whereas most other door I saw were nearly lying on the floor. I set the young girl down and threw my weight against the door to close it before shoving furniture in front of it to keep it closed. I guided the girl towards a corner and set down my backpack and axe. I pulled out the blanket and gave it to her. I rested the bag against the wall and gestured for her to sit down there.

"Don't you need the blanket to sleep too?" she asked me.

"No," I told her, "you need it more than I do."

I sat myself down next to her, my axe gripped firmly in my hand in case of any emergency during the night. She shuffled closer to me and threw half of the blanket over my legs.

"We can share then." She smiled up at me and snuggled into my arm. I smiled back and wrapped my arm around her shoulders. Her skin was icy cold and there were goosebumps across her arms. Noticing this, I frowned and drew the blanket over her shoulders before pulling her closer to me. She wrapped her arms around my chest, burying her face into my jumper.

"My name is Emily," she told me before adding, "Thank you for saving me mister."

"There was no way I could leave you. My name is Mathias by the way," I answered smiling again.

"Mathias. That's a nice name," Emily mumbled, slowly drifting off into sleep.

I laughed softly, still holding her and my axe. I looked out a small gap in the barricaded window, the fight exhausting me and taking the energy away from my body. My eyelids slowly closed as the minutes passed by, sleep eventually taking over.


	3. Chapter 3

I opened my eyes slowly, feeling somebody lightly shaking me. I turned to the side, allowing my eyes to adjust before seeing Emily sat next to me, smiling at me.

"I think we can go out now," she said quietly.

"Yeah I guess we can," I yawned, rubbing my eyes, "I think we should collect some supplies today."

She nodded in approval and rose from the hard ground. I sleepily followed her actions, getting up myself before stuffing everything back into my backpack. I slung the now light bag over my shoulders and grabbed my axe. Emily took my hand after we cleared the entrance and walked out into the street. I gave her hand a comforting squeeze and smiled down at her.

Her eyes were bright and she was smiling but beneath that mask of happiness I could see how hurt she was. She must have lost people close to her but she was a strong girl. She understood now was a tough time and that she had to keep going, that she couldn't afford to stop.

"How much do you know about this infection then?" I asked, breaking the silence between us.

"Well," she began, "they didn't say much about it on the news but I've thought about it a lot and I have a theory."

"Oh, what's your theory then?" I pressed, becoming curious.

"I think that these people that are infected, are dead. I believe that this disease is far more advanced than we think and it takes over the brain after death. It's not like anything that has been seen before as far as I know, and that's why it has caused so much destruction. The only way to kill them is by damaging the brain. You have already figured that out which is where I got this theory from."

I was completely shocked. How could a girl so young think about these things? She looked at me, noticing that I was astonished.

"I've always wanted to be a scientist," she explained.

I laughed a little before replying, "So miss scientist, do you think there is any way this could all be fixed?"

She grinned at me, obviously having a well thought answer. "Well you might have noticed that there are some infected that are slower than others. They are also further into the stages of decomposition than the others. This shows that they have been infected for longer and I believe that this means the effects of this infection wears off eventually. The only way that I can think of stopping it so far is by gathering all the survivors and checking for any signs of the infection before keeping them all in a sterile area, far from those already gone. The infection will eventually wear off, leaving the survivors."

I thought about her explanation for a while before telling her, "The infection was air and water borne which means that it would still be there though."

"But," she debated, "if it wears off in the humans then it should wear off in the water and everything right?"

"Yeah, you have a point but it may be more complicated than that," I said honestly.

Emily huffed, annoyed at me finding a loophole in her ideas. He laughed and easily picked her up with one arm. She began to giggle, cheery once again.

"I didn't say that it was wrong though," I told her. She simply giggled in reply, holding onto me.

It was strange how two people who have never met before, can trust each other so much after a short space of time in such a difficult situation. But of course, we both were on our own and any human interaction is badly wanted now. If I weren't with Emily I may have gone mad eventually, having nobody there to keep me company, to keep me sane. The same could go for her too. Especially because she was so young, she would have given up soon, allowing death to take over.A lump formed in my throat at that thought. This little girl was all I had right now and she had already become like family to me. Losing her would kill me right now.

We arrived at a small shop, entering cautiously. Once we had confirmed that we were alone in the shop, we began hunting for anything we might need. Together, me and Emily gather food that would last for a long time, bottled water, batteries and a torch. By the time we had left the shop it was already getting dark so we hurried to find a safe place to settle for the night. We set up our makeshift bed and shared some food and water, rationing what we had, before drifting into a restless sleep.


End file.
